Beautiful Beast
by Jane Talbott
Summary: Bella serves as collatoral so that her father can be free, but little does she know that ther is more to it than that. How will she face the Beautiful Beast? BatB based
1. Chapter 1

"Go now, Charles, and bring me your daughter. Then you, and the young girl, shall not die in agony and vain." The tall, lean man looked down on his soon-to-be free prisoner.

"Yes, your highness, of course." Charles rode away from the gothic castle, happy to be gone, but not to lose his daughter. What was he going to tell her? 'You have to take my place'? He knew that she would do whatever she could to protect her father, but she would have to live with the evil, red-eyed royal. Would he do terrible things to her? Torture her? Imprision her in a dungeon like he had been for the past four days? He couldn't think about that now, all he needed to think about was seeing his daughter for one last day. His daughter would have to leave in the morning to arrive at the castle at the monster's specified time. _All because he had picked a rose for her._

Charles arrived home four hours later. He slowly put the horse in the barn and walked into his small home where him and his daughter lived. It was the middle of winter and the house was as hot as an oven. His daughter, scared of getting cold, rutinely threw a new log into the fire every two hours. He then saw his daughter's eyes as she ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Papa! Where have you been? I've been so worried, the whole village has been for that matter." She looked up at him, her brown eyes twinkling with amazement.

"It is a long story, and one that you will have to regrettably suffer for." Her face went even more pale than it naturally was. She raised her head up to look at her father. "What is it, Papa?"

Charles sighed and a tear began to roll down his face. "I was held prisoner why I was away, but not just by anyone; oh, no. It was him, my daughter; it was the legend.

"What lengend?" she asked, sitting in the rocking chair next to the fire. "Remember the legend I told you many times, about the beast that lived in the castle south of here? It was him, I know it was. He does not look like a beast, though he is one. He is cruel and will never let you leave."

She became alarmed and asked: "Will never let _me_ leave?"

Charles looked at his daughter and noticed her alarm. "The only reason he freed me is so that you would come in my place." Charles exhaled heavily and burried his hands into his face.

She sat there, staring off into nothing, cotemplating what she should do. "I'll go. As long as you are here, and free, I will go." Charles looked up at his daughter with bewilderment. He knew she would do it, but he didn't know that she would agree that quickly.

"You do not know what you do, young girl. He is crazy, vile, and evil. He will torture you and hold you hostage."

"I do not care, for as long as I know you are safe, I will be happy." She looked back at her father. Knowing that she didn't have much more time left with him.

"You will leave with the horse in the morning. Keep Philipe with you, I will just use the other one." She smiled and went into her room to pack her things and spend one last night in her bed.

***

She steered Philipe on the trail. She was two hours into her journey to the castle. Saying goodbye to her father was rough, but she knew that someday, they would meet eachother again. She wondered what her dungeon cell would be like, and what the castle looked like on the inside. She had seen the outside of the castle multiple times, traveling to visit her father's family in Paris, but she had never gotten close to it, let alone into the structure. The next two hours passed and then she could see it; the castle.

"Go slowly, Philipe. I am in no big hurry."

Soon, she was at castle gates. As soon as she arrived, they opened. She and Philipe rode into the gates, and as soon as they were inside, they closed.

The doors were only a short distance, and she mounted off of the horse. "Philipe, you stay here. I'm sure one of his servants will take you to a barn...or somewhere." She loaded her two bags off of the horse and knocked on the large doors. Suddenly, they opened just like the gates had, and she walked inside.

"Hello? Hello? Is anybody there?" Then she heard the tap of feet.

There he stood. Tall and proud. Her father had been right; he did not look like a beast but he certainly did act like one. But his eyes! Were they _red_?

"Ah, you must be Bella." he smirked.


	2. Chapter 2

Bella stared at him for a moment. He was awfully proud, and rude for that matter. His smart-alec tone and smootly stance.

"I am. And you are...?" He seemed stunned that she would ask such a question.

"You don't need to know my name, and why on God's green earth did you bring bags?" he asked, his face turned into a snarl.

"I figured that if I was to be staying here for a while, I might need things." Bella turned her face away from him, scared to look him in the eyes anymore. That piercing red was getting to her.

"Nonsense. Everything you need has already been accomadated for you." Bella couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Oh, is all that in my dungeon cell?" she asked. The red-eyed man did not seem to like it.

"Well, everything is in a suite overlooking the rose gardens, but I guess if you would like to be in the dungeon-"

"No, that is fine. Thank you." Bella thought that it was strange that she would be getting a bedroom, let alone a suite.

"Here, let me escort you to your rooms." He offered her his arm. She looked up at him only to turn to look at her bags. "I will have a servant bring up your bags." Bella then took his arm cautiously and fallowed him up the grand staircase. After many twists and turns, they stopped.

"Here is your room. I'll be outside of your door at seven o'clock to escort you to dinner." Bella didn't say anything on account of she didn't know if she would attend dinner with him, or if she even wanted to. He shut the door and Bella could hear his footsteps grow softer and softer the further down the corridoor he got.

"Oh, Papa, what am I to do?" Bella asked aloud, knowing that her father could not hear her. She coaxed her body over to the soft looking bed. She lay there, staring at the buttercream yellow walls and ceiling. The sun shone through the opaque curtains, which were as white as snow. Bella had to admit, this room was beautiful. Had it been made like this for her? But it couldn't have been, she only knew she would be coming here as of yesterday. Bella got up to look out of her floor-to-ceiling windows, when she realized that they led her to a balcony. Even though she longed to go outside, it was too cold; it was the middle of winter, after all.

Even though she didn't feel safe to leave the room, she thought that she might as well explore the confines of her new room. Bella opened one door to see that there was a nice washroom, housing a large, painted-white, heeled cast-iron tub in the middle of the room. There were windows in there as well, though she could not figure why you would want windows in a washroom. Then there was the closet, at which, Bella was the most intrigued. There were dresses of every color; there had o be atleast fifty total. Bella had never seen so many dresses at once in her life, especially ones as fine as these. Ball gowns, day gowns, everything. Then there was one dress- a red one- that shocked her the most.

It was a crimson, a crisp crimson. It had sleeves that would probably come to the middle of her upper-arm, and the traditional wide hip style. It was covered in beautiful matching silk roses, it had matching fringe, and it had a rather low neckline for a seventeen year-old girl.

"I wonder what kind of fabric this is?" Bella asked out loud.

"It's taffetta." Bella jumped and turned around to see a short girl with shoulder-length brown hair.

"Um, hello?" Bella asked.

"Hi, I'm Alice and I just know that we're going to be the best of friends!" the girl said, her smile going from ear to ear.

"I'm Bella. Nice to meet you." Bella spoke uneasily, still startled.

"That's a very lovely dress. One of a kind; actually all the dresses in here are one of a kind." Bella looked at the dresses again. She had never never been "fashionable" but she knew what things were considered in style.

"I don't think I'll ever have the chance to wear such a beautiful dress outside of this room, though. I have a feeling that I won't be leaving it too frequently." Bella touched the gown again.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Alice said and shortly after smiled. "Are you going to dinner with Edward tonight?"

"Who is Edward?" Bella asked. Alice had a puzzled look on her face, and then remembered that Edward had probably not thought to properly introduce himself when Bella entered the castle.

"Edward is," she hesitated, "the owner of the castle." Alice described it in the best way she could instead of saying, 'Edward is the man that insisted you come here for his own selfish wants.'

"Will you be attending dinner with Edward tonight in the main dining room?" Alice asked quietly. She feared and knew that Bella would say no, but hearing her say it would be confirming her prediction.

"No, I don't believe that I will. I think I'm going to stay in here and get adjusted to everything." she lied. In truth, Bella was scared to death of Edward. What would he say to her, _do_ to her?

"Oh...well... okay, I suppose. I'll see you later." Alice looked at Bella one last time before leaving the suite. Bella leaned back and fell into the bed, contemplating the days events, and wondering what her captor was up to now.

***

"So she's not meeting me for dinner." Edward breathed.

"Well, it's not as if you would sit ther and eat with her anyway, and the fact that your eyes are red because the effect the scent of her blood had on you doesn't exactly help things either. From what I can tell, she is scared to death of you." Edward's iris' were no longer red, but an amber color. Edward stared into the fire before him. He had seen so many of his kind killed in fire, but for some reason, the warmth of it's glow touching his hand made him feel half-way human.

"Did you smell her, Alice. It's intoxicating. Her father smelt somewhat similar, but her... amazing." Edward smiled. He had never loved, and never really cared to, but after Alice had told him of what she saw about Charles' daughter and himself, he had to give it a shot.

"She saw the dress you picked out, the crimson one. I think it was her favorite." Alice laced her fingers together and sat in the chair next to Edward. "I wouldn't know what her favorite dress was, Alice." Alice sat in silence in a moment before turning to meet Edward's face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said. I couldn't read her mind, and she's in my own castle for God's sake. I couldn't even read her mind when she was holding my arm. Yet, I can read every thought you're having right now. You're wondering about the current situation, trying to see if any predictions are going to come in soon, and if Jasper will be back tomorrow morning before the sun comes up." Alice sat in silence.

"I heard you in my head the whole time, I just can't believe you can't read her mind. She isn't even a vampire."

***

Bella awoke the next morning from a pleasant sleep, dispite all that had occured the day before. She got up and looked out the window. It had to be atleast ten in the morning by now. She never would have done that if she was still at home. She then turned to the mirror. She liked the embroidery on her nightgown: all the little blue flowers on it were adorable. Then there was a knock at the door.

"Bella, it's just me, Alice. I was going to see if you needed anything." Alice meandered into the room, making sure that Bella was suitable. "Oh, I'm fine, thank you. How about yourself this morning?" Alice seemed pleased that Bella was in a somewhat better mood that yesterday.

"I thought that you might need breakfast, or brunch now, for that matter." Alice looked out the window, making sure no sun beams could touch her.

"I'm not particularly hungry this morning. I thought that if I could find a book I'd be fine." Bella turned to go into the closet to pick out a dress fore the day. Bella picked out a dress and held it up against herself in the mirror. "Don't you think that that dress may be a little too fancy for 'just reading?" Alice asked. Bella was holding up a mint green dress with traditional French-style sleeves. "I suppose so, but it's so pretty."

"It also requires a corset, which I'm sure you don't feel like putting one on to read in." Bella nodded her head in agreement and picked out another dress. It was powder blue, and seemed to be just a simple dress, though it was still fancier than anything she had ever owned. Alice smiled at the decision and helped Bella get ready for the day.

"Was Edward displeased that I didn't come to dinner last night?" she asked. Alice thought about what to respond with for a moment. "He was busy with some letters he received, and couldn't make it, either."

"Oh." Bella murmered, wondering why she felt saddened at the fact.


	3. Chapter 3

Edward couldn't help but wonder what Bella's living in the castle would amount to. From what he could tell, when she came into the castle yesterday afternoon, she seemed to be a very beautiful girl. And if she wasn't pretty enough, the scent of her blood fixed that problem.

"How am I going to get used to being around her, Alice?" he asked. "I don't want to be around her and my eyes be red!" Edward slid further down his large leather desk chair. What would he do? If Alice's vision was right about Bella, he would have to speak to her at some point. "You can't just bite her; no, that would not be good. Maybe you could just stand outside of her room and sniff." Alice laughed at that last part.

"I don't think I can just 'stand outside of her room and sniff', no. Maybe...maybe-" Alice cut him off. "An article of her clothing! You can sit it in here, or your room and get used to the smell, so that way, when you get around her, your eyes won't turn red." Edward looked up at Alice with a pleased look on his face. Avoiding the subject of blood any further than he had to, "Is Jasper back yet?"

"Oh, yes, he's back. He came in around seven this morning, right before the sun came up." Alice looked out the window. The snow on the ground had accumulated last night, about five more inches, she could tell. She looked over to Edward who was still lost in thought, Alice, hating the silence, made a suggestion. "I think I could get that article of clothing for you, right now, actually. Would a nightgown do?" Edward looked back up at Alice and replied 'yes' with a peaceful look on his face. "I'll go do that right now; I'll just tell her that I'm getting it for the wash." Alice exited the room and Edward turned around to face his office window. The snow was glistening in the few sunbeams strewn across the area. Glistening. That was the word Edward hated the most.

***

Bella was sitting in her room reading one of the books she had brought with her. She heard the door creak open, and could tell from the light footsteps echoing off of the floor, that it was Alice.

"I just came to get your dirty laundry, that's all." Bella smiled at Alice as she walked into her closet. "Having a good time reading, Bella?" Bella glanced up from the book and nodded, signifying that she was having too good of a time reading to stop for conversation. Alice left the room looking at Bella one last time.

Bella stood up and looked out of her bedroom window. The snow was glistening in the few sunbeans strewn across the area. Glistening. That was one word Bella loved.

***

"Jasper, she's great. A perfect match for Edward, really. I just feel sorry for her, because she has no clue..." Alice fell into the arms of the man she loved. Jasper ran his hands through her hair. "You must meet her soon, and then you'll see," she paused, "see what a perfect match that they are for eachother." Jasper looked down at Alice, his eyes conveying all the love he had for her. "I'm sure she's great, Alice." Alice fluttered her eyelashes.

"Oh she is, Jasper; she is." Alice closed her eyes in thought.

***

The next few days were quiet, as usual in the castle. Bella's meals were brought to her in her room, and Edward sat in his office doing nothing at all. The only thing that brought him any comfort was the smell of Bella's nightgown. Her scent was definetely embedded in the fabric, and he had become more used to her smell. He pick up the nightgown and inhaled.

"You could go see her." Edward quickly dropped the nightgown and turned around. "I know what you were up to." Alice began to laugh.

"What would I say, Alice?" he picked up the nightgown and ran his fingers over the silky fabric. "Well, she does read a lot, maybe you could show her the library. She's probably close to running out of books." Alice traced her finger along the arm of a large chair.

"I suppose that I could. Do you think that would be okay?" Alice put her finger to her chin. "Be gentle with her so that you don't scare her more than you already have, understood?"

"Yes, master." Edward said mockingly. He got up from his large chair and exited the room, Alice grinning from ear to ear.

***

'When will the snow stop?' Bella thought to herself. Not that she didn't like snow, but it looked as if it was piled up to seven feet. Would it ever melt. A knock at the door interrupted Bella's thoughts. Assuming that it was Alice, she answered, "Come in."

"Hello." Bella turned around to see the man that was keeping her here: Edward. He stood just as tall as he had five days earlier, but not as proud. And his eyes were now a warm amber tone. "Um, hello." Bella responded.

"Alice tells me that you have been in here for days, just reading." Bella nodded her head. Edward looked around the room. For someone to have been cooped up in it for days, it was remarkably spotless. "Have you even considered leaving the room?"

"Not really." Bella said, turning her body back to face the windows. Edward thought about Alice's suggestion t show her the library, so that maybe she would feel more at ease. "Would you like to pick out a few books from my library. It shouldn't take long." Bella turned back to face him. Would it be safe to go with him?

"Sure, that would be fine, I suppose." she said. Edward exited the room and Bella followed two steps behind him. After about two minutes of walking, they came to two large doors. Edward turned the left door's handle.

"Oh, my." Bella said at the thousands upon thousands of books that lined the three-storied room's walls. There had to be every type of book in the library. "I assume that you are pleased?" Edward asked, standing a few feet behind her. "Yes, very much so." Bella walked along the wall and touched the spines of the books.

"Take as many as you like, or sit in here and read them, either way would be fine." He laced his hands together and looked back at Bella. She looked radiant today. Bella slowly turned around to face him. "Thank you for showing me this, it really means a lot."

Edward smiled. "You're welcome. Remember that you can come in here anytime you wish." Bella was in awe. Had she ever seen such a beautiful smile?

"I'll keep that in mind." Bella smiled back. She plucked a book from one of the dozens of shelves and sat down at the nearest armchair.

Edward had succeeded.

***

Alice walked into the library to find Bella still reading. "You're going to absolutely destroy your eyes." Bella laughed for the first time in days. "Oh, don't remind me." Alice laughed as well. "Will you be attending dinner with Edward tonight?" Bella contemplated the question. He had seemed to be kind to her today, maybe she should go, just to see...

"Yes, I think I will." Alice knew how happy this would make Edward. Alice grabbed Bella's arm and yanked her out of the chair and into the hallway. "Well, let's go get you ready!"

***

Edward leaned against the wall next to Bella's door. _Please, please, let this work._ How long was Alice going to hold her captive in there? Edward heard a noise next to him, watching Alice walk out of Bella's room. "She'll only be a bit longer, she's putting on her shoes. Hold her arm tight when you're going down the stairs; she's rather clumsy." Edward laughed. "Sure, Alice. You're definetely the one in charge here." Alice glared at him. "My visions can change you know, so do not mess this up." Edward nodded hs head in agreement as Alice walked away.

Edward waited outside of the door for a few more minutes until Bella walked out of her room. "Good evening." she said. Edward smiled and offered her his arm. "Good evening to you, too." They began walking down the hall towards the grand staircase, where (as Alice ha predicted), Bella would trip. Edward caught her, and laughed when she was back on her feet. "Thanks." Bella muttered.

***

"So what do you prefer to read exactly?" he asked.

"I like dramas, romances, faerie tales, things of that nature." Edward smirked.

"Do you ever read history or folklore; I find them ten times more interesting," Bella opened her mouth to but was cut off by Edward, "I understnad why you like those. You're a woman, and women seem to enjoy those types of novels more than men." Bella smiled in agreement and took a sip from her goblet.

"I cannot believe that you're not hungry." Bella said. Edward promptly responded. "I'm not particularly hungry right now, but thank you."

"What about you? What do you enjoy reading?" Bella thought maybe she could explore his personality with this question.

"I read a lot of old documents, published diaries of kings, things of that sort. I used to enjoy horror and macarbe, but not anymore." Bella normally would have found this extremely odd, but somehow, she found it interesting.


End file.
